At least one high school football team from the diocese usually can be counted on to make a deep run in the playoffs every year. Which team that might be this fall won’t be determined for several months, but the quest for regular-season success began this weekend with 10 diocesan schools kicking off their schedules.
Last year, Columbus Bishop Watterson made a surprise run to the Division III state championship game before falling to Toledo Central Catholic. Two years before that, Newark Catholic surged to the Division VII state final before losing to small-school juggernaut Maria Stein Marion Local. In 2020, Columbus St. Francis DeSales played for a state title and came up short in a double-overtime loss to Chardon in the Division III final.
Those teams as well as Columbus Bishop Hartley, a perennial powerhouse program under coach Brad Burchfield, and Columbus Bishop Ready hope to make some noise during the regular season and into the playoffs this fall.
After the expanded playoff format adopted by the Ohio High School Athletic Association last year allowed twice as many teams to qualify for the postseason, seven of the 10 teams in the diocese took advantage of that opportunity.
In addition to Watterson, DeSales, Hartley, Ready and Columbus St. Charles Preparatory School, Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans and Portsmouth Notre Dame qualified for the playoffs in Division VII, which is made up of the state’s smaller schools.
DeSales and Rosecrans bowed out in the opening round, but Hartley advanced to a regional final in Division IV and Ready and Notre Dame each won a game.
Watterson’s postseason run was one to remember. After losing to DeSales in the final game of the regular season, the Eagles went on a run, disposing of five opponents with help from a strong defense on the way to the state final.
One of the leaders on that team was Dominic Purcell, a first-team All-Ohio linebacker who was credited with an astounding 202 tackles last yar and is now at the U.S. Naval Academy. Also lost to graduation was quarterback AJ McAninch, who passed for 3,400 yards and 38 touchdowns.
But Watterson does return 13 starters, including senior running back Zach Weber, who rushed for 825 yards and 13 touchdowns; senior receiver Jake Uhlenhake, who caught 68 passes for 1,130 yards and 13 touchdowns; and senior receiver Cal Mangini, who had 60 receptions for 724 yards. Anchoring the offensive and defensive lines will be seniors Vance Graney and CJ Youell and sophomores Jack Schuler and Michael Boyle.
Replacing McAninch at quarterback will be junior Drew Bellisari, the son of former Ohio State linebacker Greg Bellisari.
Coach Brian Kennedy, entering his eighth season leading the Eagles, expects the offensive and defensive lines to be a strength this season against a tough schedule that includes Central Catholic League rivals DeSales and Hartley.
Hartley returns eight starters on offense and three on defense from a team that went to a regional final a year ago. Junior running back Robert Lathon rushed for 1,543 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2023, averaging 8.0 yards per carry, and junior quarterback Matt Galich passed for 986 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions for the run-oriented Hawks. Junior linebacker-running back Jay Zang is the top returning tackler from last season.
“The expectations are always the same,” Burchfield said. “We expect to be among the very best, and that is the tradition of the school and the football family that has long been established.”
For DeSales, the past two seasons haven’t matched the school’s lofty standards. The Stallions finished 7-5 in 2022 and 5-6 in 2023, losing in the early rounds of the playoffs each year.
Last year proved to be a season of near-misses for DeSales, which lost four games by a total of 10 points.
The Stallions' graduation losses include defensive tackle Cameron Gwinn, who is at the University of Toledo, and four-year starting linebacker Max Shulaw, an all-state performer and leading tackler now at the University of Virginia to wrestle after winning three state titles. But a strong nucleus returns, led by Ty Neubert, a two-way lineman and four-year starter who is an Ohio University football recruit.
Also back this season are senior linebackers Dane Crabtree and Adam Faulkner, junior running back Jonathon Brown, junior safety-outside linebacker Kingston Johnson, and sophomore two-way lineman Matthias Burrell, sophomore running back-defensive back Kaleb Johnson and sophomore quarterback RJ Day, who set school freshman passing records in 2023.
Coach Ryan Wiggins said replacing the offensive line and Gwinn and Shulaw on defense will be two of the keys to the season.
“Our expectations are always the same at DeSales – CCL (title), playoffs and deep runs,” Wiggins said.
Bishop Ready begins its second season under coach T.J. Burbridge after going undefeated in the Central Buckeye League to win the championship and finishing with a 10-2 overall record.
The Silver Knights lost productive running back Kentrell Rinehart, a North Carolina State recruit who accounted for 3,003 all-purpose yards and 46 touchdowns last year at Ready before transferring to Columbus Westland.
The top returnees are linebacker-tight end Conlan Dent, who accumulated 115 tackles in 2023; linebacker Kasen Abbott (110 tackles); two-way lineman Evan Montgomery and quarterback Jacob Cheatham, who completed 60 percent of his passes for 926 yards and nine touchdowns last fall.
St. Charles is one of two diocesan football teams with a new coach. Replacing Deke Hocker is Anthony Colucci, who went 3-7 in one season as the head coach at Birmingham Southern College before the school closed this past spring.
The top returnees for a underclassmen-laden St. Charles team that lost in the first round of the Division II playoffs last year are senior quarterback-defensive back Ryan Mooney, senior running back-linebacker Joe Schmitt, junior tight end-defensive lineman Charlie Koesters and junior two-way lineman Jack Brandt.
“Our senior class is small in numbers but has done a phenomenal job embracing the new era and stting the standard,” Colucci said.
Outside of Franklin County, Portsmouth Notre Dame and Bishop Rosecrans were playoff qualifiers last year.
Meanwhile, Newark Catholic is looking to rebound after missing the playoffs a year ago, Fisher Catholic just missed qualifying for the postseason a year ago and Tuscarawas Central Catholic is rebuilding with a new coach after going winless last season.
Two of Newark Catholic’s more experienced players are back from a 3-7 team at two of the most important positions. Quarterback Miller Hutchinson is a three-year starter and running back Mikey Hess has started for two years.
Hutchinson passed for 1,228 yards and 13 touchdowns last year and added 22 tackles and one interception as a cornerback. Hess rushed for 974 yards and totaled nine touchdowns while making 48 tackles as a linebacker.
Returning offensive line starters are Carmine Annarino, Jackson Broyles and Keaton Helms. On defense, all three starting linebackers are back.
Newark Catholic will benefit from playoff realignment this year, dropping down from Division VI to Division VII.
“My expectations are to build off a strong finish from our regular season last year and allow our returners to thrive in an offense and defense that they now have spent a full season and off-season learning,” second-year coach Josh Hendershot said. “This will be an exciting year for Green Wave football and we are ready for the opportunity to return to Division VII and compete at a high level."
Portsmouth Notre Dame finished with an 8-4 record, with a first-round playoff victory, in Buster Davis’ first year as coach.
Davis would like to see the Titans advance farther in the postseason this year and win the Southern Ohio Conference championship.
Notre Dame graduated all-purpose back Jordan Davis, who accounted for 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns while making second-team All-Ohio, but returns quarterback-linebacker Ethan Kingrey, running back-safety Bryce McGraw, wide receiver-cornerback Gene Collins, running back-linebacker Luke Cassidy and offensive tackle-defensive end Brody Coleman.
Fisher Catholic brings back the passing combination of senior quarterback Grant Keefer and wide receiver Hyde O’Rielley. Last season, Keefer passed for 1,893 yards and 13 touchdowns while rushing for 384 yards and three TDs. O’Rielley made first-team All-Ohio after catching 39 passes for 758 yards and 10 touchdowns in nine games while adding 73.5 tackles as a linebacker.
The challenge for the Irish will be to shore up their defense, which gave up 35 or more points in all seven of their losses.
Bishop Rosecrans lost eight seniors from last year’s 4-7 team and is counting on underclassmen to fill the void.
Junior Brody Zemba accounted for 1,250 yards and 15 touchdowns last year. Junior Hayden Perdue replaces four-year starting quarterback Brendan Bernath.
Giovanni Ionno begins his first season as a head coach at Tuscarawas Central Catholic after the Saints struggled to an 0-10 record in 2023.
Ionno, who was named coach in late June, is faced with replacing 10 seniors from last year and has only five returning letter winners. He’s counting on the running game and the defense to lead the way.
The top returning players are seniors Kolton Whitaker, Warren Tienarend and Braeden Brown.
“We have hit the ground running, trying to catch the kids and program up to speed,” Ionno said. “We are a bit behind the eight-ball but are working hard to be ready for the season and expect to improve as the season progresses.”
